John e



(No Model.)

J. E. WALSH.

LIGHTERING VESSEL.

No. 602,888. Patented Apr. 26, 1898.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. AW'f-XLSH, OF NEWT YORK, N. VY.

LIGHTERING VESSEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 602,888, dated April 26, 1898.

Application filed November 29, 1897. Serial No. 660,034. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

, Be it known that I, JOHN E. VALSH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lightering Vessels, of which the following is a specication.

My invention relates to improvements in lightering vessels; and it consists in an improved construct-ion of transportation-barges, comprising facilities for rapid handling and weighing of freight.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section and elevation of the improved transportation-barge. Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same.

This barge is specially designed for the transportation and expeditious handling of staple articles, such as grain, coal, and the like; and it consists,.besides the proper vessel A, having compartments a, of a stationary frame F, carrying a weighing-machine fw at such an elevation above the deck of the barge that the lower end of a spout W", leading from the hopper fw of the weighing-machine, projects sufficiently above the iioor of a dock to allow the freight to be discharged directly into trucks placed thereunder or into port-holes or hatches of another vessel.

Two upright masts M M' are secured to the vessel centrally and close to both sides of the weighing-machine, and a hopper H, of larger dimensions than those of the weighing-machine hopper, is secured to the frame F, above the weighing-machine, in such a manner that a traveler T, with its freight G, can be landed above or in close proximity to the upper mouth of the hopper H, and the freight is discharged into it without swinging a boom and, passing through the weighing-machine, can be loaded directly into a truck or a hatch of a vessel.

The hopper H is provided at its bottom with the customary valve and is kept filled, thus allowing the weighing to proceed uninterruptedly.

The booms O O O' O', of which there are preferably two, are secured upon each mast and are of sufficient length to reach over all the hatches of a vessel, each pair sweeping over one-half of the vessels length. They are preferably hinged to the mast in such a manner that they can be swung up while the vessel is traveling, and are also given a horizontal swinging motion to allow for their adjustment over hatches when making readyfor unloading the barge. Machinery is also provided for working the booms.

The departments a d will permit different brands of grain or different sizes of coal to be shipped or handled in one trip, making the barge more serviceable when handling a mixed cargo, while the two masts with their booms will permit a very rapid handling of the freight, and the arrangement of the weighing-machine on a fixed structure in the center of a vessel will do away with the shifting and making ready for work at different places of the vessels to be loaded, it being always in a favorable position on the lightering vessel, thus saving considerable time necessary for doing this preparatory work.

The arrangement of the hold and the abundance of beams will allow all the departments of the barge to be loaded simultaneously, thus saving considerable time.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- In a lightering-barge, the combination of a hull, having partitions, a stationary frame centrally secured upon the deck and carrying a hopper and a weighing-machine, two masts,

each having a boom or booms carrying travelers and extending in opposite directions from their respective masts toward each end of the barge, and means for operating the working parts of the booms, as and for the purposes herein shown and described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 27 th day of November, A. D. 1897.

JOHN E. WALSH. Witnesses:

ELMER J. SNYDER, ELLIS OWEN. 

